College for Creative Studies

Date: Feb 26 2004
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
I'm in the Illustration dept. Not satisfied with education. Good artists don't necessarily make good teachers. Best class I took was in the Industrial Design department—afterall, its a design school. Illustration classes offer projects, but no real instruction to get from point A to point B. Also, too much reliance on drawing from references. Projects geared towards giving students breadth—including graphic design, product illustration etc. However, I wanted to be trained in my field (imagine that!) so when I graduate I can do what I want. After spending the $20+k to be here, I don't want to be told that I'll have to settle for something else like web design. They call this "diversifying" or being "multi-faceted." Computer classes in Illustration use hand-me downs from "high-end" depts like animation. With 15 students and only 11 computers in the class, seems like we're really cheated. The drawing tables are scratched up, broken, chairs are busted (while the design dept has very expensive ergo-correct chairs.) We don't even have pencil guards on our tables to keep our supplies from rolling off. Easels are "frozen" stuck so you can't even re-adjust them. Teachers are not especially creative in desiging projects—if you've ever read a "self-help" book for artists (such as the Artist's Way) then you already have a better idea of how to explore technique and media then most of the teachers here. Most projects are based on drawing a form and coloring it in with some value—anybody can do that. I was more interested in actually painting, expressively using the properties of the medium, not coloring book style. The graduating class is tiny—maybe 30 or so TOTAL students each semester—from all departments!!! They will tell you it is because of the "competitive" program, but I think its actually attrition and dissatisfaction. I know at least a handful of people including Juniors who do not plan to come back. I think if you come here for Industrial Design, you will get a good education.